The invention relates to a belaying device with a fastening component, mountable on a securing means that is connectable to a person to be belayed by means of a connecting element.
A safety device of this type can replace a via ferrata set. Via ferrata sets ensure the safety of climbers on so-called “secured” via ferrata or high rope courses. They are also used, however, for exposed work on house fronts, roofs, bridges, masts, etc., as well as in shipping, particularly on sailing boats. Furthermore, the invention can also be used to secure objects, for example against shoplifting, in space travel or for secure prisoner transfer. For better visualisation, subsequently it is referred to personal protection against falling. Here, securing yachtsmen, for whom the main danger is not falling but drifting off in the water, and objects, for which wrongful dislodgment should be avoided, and other application methods are supposed to be meant analogously.
As a rule, a belaying set comprises two carabiners, each of which is attached to the person securing himself via a connecting piece formed by a rope or a belt, e.g. on a safety belt, such as a waist belt. Rollers (single or multiple roller) are also used in the belaying set instead of a snap hook or rollers with a snap hook clasp, particularly in high rope courses. Belaying sets in rope courses, as a rule, consist of two or three fastening components, the connecting pieces to the person secured can be of various lengths. The fastening components are frequently attached to the free ends of a Y- or V-shaped rope or strap, which is furnished with a rope or strap or another suitable connecting piece centrally with an attachment device for attachment onto a safety belt of the person securing himself. Frequently, one or more damper are also incorporated into these connections, in order to defuse the fall of a person into the safety device. As a rule, the safety device is attached at the front or at the back of the safety belt.
When climbing, the climber should always be hooked by at least one fastening component onto a safety device (e.g. steel cable, another rope, rungs, safety ring, frame, single or double roller insolvably attached to the cable, or a safety ring), pre-installed onto the via ferrata or onto the high rope course. The second fastening component is either likewise hooked on, or it has been opened in order to re-attach it during changes in direction or gaps in the pre-installed safety device, i.e. it can be hooked into the continuation of the pre-installed safety device.
The following problems arise here:
In using via ferrata sets, accidents occur time after time that are the result of human error on the part of the user or of other participants. Particularly for children and inexperienced users, not least due to the nervousness caused by the altitude of high rope courses and vie ferrate, improper handling occur over and over, such as unhooking both fastener components at once. It also occurs time and again that participants inadvertently unhook all fastener components of each other or that participants are not aware of the risk and deliberately unhook both (or all) fastener components at the same time. This means that they are not secured, which, in the worst case, may result in the user's falling from a great height.
In accordance with the state of the art, single carabiners, lockable against accidental opening, are well-known, including from WO 2004/113745 A1, from which an embodiment is known, in which a carabiner comprises a blocking mechanism that can be moved into the release position for remote unlocking using a lanyard. In accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 2,116,880 A, a carabiner latch can be unlocked using a key rod. FR 2 483 781 A1 describes a snap hook, which is additionally opened by spring force. Furthermore, DE 79 19 515 U1 publishes a safety hook with remote opening which can be activated via a Bowden cable. U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,728 A describes various blocking mechanisms for individual snap hooks. DE 10 2005 009 946 B3 describes a via ferrata set which emits an alarm signal if both snap hooks are removed from the safety cable at the same time. U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,796 describes a belaying device where both carabiners are connected by a Bowden cable, wherein only one of the securing means can be detached at a time. DE 10 2006 010 898 describes the same process, wherein the fastening component identifies a safety cable as safe by its diameter. Two fastening components that communicate with one another are likewise described in the unpublished AT 1771/2006, wherein a secure attachment point is identified each time by an identification component to be permanently mountable. This facilitates rapid modification of high rope courses or vie ferrate and, furthermore, an impact on the direction of use, the use of rungs, safety rings, and a safety of vertical ascents and descents.